TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State came within two points of clinching game five and a runner-up finish at the FSU Invitational, but fell short in a thrilling five game marathon against Pittsburgh Saturday evening on Lucy McDaniel Court at Tully Gym. Game scores were 30-19, 16-30, 25-30, 30-24, and 13-15.

The loss overshadowed the breakout performance of junior Sarah Griffin who recorded 17 kills on a career-high 44 attempts for a .318 hitting percentage. She added an ace and seven digs for 18.0 points.

Florida State standouts, Kristen Rust and Summer Weissing, also contributed an outstanding evening. Rust had 19 kills and hit a match-high .410 percent. She served up a career-high-tying four aces, reached for 12 digs and tallied 23.0 points. The match was her second double-double outing this early in the season. Meanwhile, one of the country’s top defensive specialists, Summer Weissing, totaled 27 hard-nosed digs for Florida State.

“Losing in five games is heartbreaking,” said Rust, who was named to the all-tournament team. “We played a great match and it’s frustrating. The play of Summer and Sarah was awesome tonight. I just wish the outcome was in our favor.”

After falling behind 7-2 in the fifth match, the Seminoles cut it to one point twice at 9-10 and 13-14. However, a kill by Panther Jessica Moses sealed the match for Pittsburgh and handed the Tribe their second straight loss.

Junior Makini Thompson was 11-for-18 for a .556 hitting percentage and she added two total blocks for the Seminoles.

Pittsburgh’s Gini Ullery and Diana Andreyko were named to the all-tournament team and had 17 and 19 kills each, respectively, on the evening. South Carolina won the FSU Invitational after sweeping through the tournament. Gamecock Shonda Cole earned MVP and Iris Santos was selected to the all-tournament squad.

Florida State will hit the road for the Varney’s Kansas State Invitational next weekend, Sept. 9-10, to face Houston, Kansas State and Minnesota.